First week of Nebraska's Fall Camp comes to a frenzied conclusion

A week that swelled and constricted like one typically found mid-season ended Saturday for the Huskers. The Nebraska football team’s first full week of Fall Camp concluded with a two-hour practice at the Ed and Joyanne Gass practice fields just outside of the Hawks Championship Center.

Contusions marred an otherwise rousing entry to Fall Camp. Since Thursday the Nebraska defense has lost junior nickel back Charles Jackson, sophomore defensive back LeRoy Alexander and sophomore linebacker Michael Rose-Ivey -- all were projected to start.

Head coach Bo Pelini appeared calm following practice Saturday, though, noting that the team’s spirits are high despite the losses.

“Our team morale is fine, I feel for those kids,” Pelini said. “As far us going forward, we have a lot of good players and a lot of good competition. We will be fine.”

The competition during practice this week was noticeable.

“We had a good week, our kids are making progress. There is a lot of competition going on for spots and that competition will continue.”

True freshman cornerback Kieron Williams impressed coaches this week, a timely improvement that could help patch an otherwise depleted secondary. Williams was a late addition to the 2014 recruiting class, playing at Air Force Prep and Byrd High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, before coming to Lincoln.

“I think Kieron is aggressive, he has good instincts,” Pelini said. “I think his understanding, the more we install, it is all starting to run together for him.”

The Huskers will take Sunday off before recommencing Monday for two practices.

With three weeks to go before Nebraska’s season opener Aug. 30 against Florida Atlantic, the Huskers are hoping health is on their side the rest of the way.

is fine.You guys will make more than, you know I feel for those kids, but as far as us going forward, we've got a lot of players. We've got a lot of good competition. We've got, we'll be just fine." ) BO PELINI ADDRESSING THE MEDIA THIS AFTERNOON IN LINCOLN AFTER YET ANOTHER IMPACT PLAYER ON DEFENSE IS DONE FOR THE YEAR. ANOTHER DAY...ANOTHER BIG HIT TO THE HUSKERS DEPTH CHART. NEBRASKA... COMPLETING WEEK ONE OF FALL CAMP THIS AFTERNOON... WITH INJURIES BECOMING THE MAIN STORYLINE. AND OF ALL THE THORNS IN THE BIG RED'S SIDE...MICHAEL ROSE MAY HURT THE MOST. THE SOPHOMORE...EXPECTING TO START AT MIDDLE LINEBACKER AFTER STARTING SEVEN GAMES THERE LAST SEASON... AND BREAKING BARRETT RUUD'S RECORD FOR IN 12 GAMES. ROSE BROKE THE NEWS OF HIS RIGHT A-C-L INJURY HIMSELF LAST NIGHT ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM... THE LATEST BLOW TO THE BLACKSHIRTS. ( Bo Pelini - "First I just Rose will have, he hurt his knee yesterday. He'll have season-ending surgery sometime this week. I feel for Michael, break for him, it was a non-contact injury." ) THAT THE INJURY LEFT HIM HURTING EMOTIONALLY...BUT THAT HE EXPECTS TO BE BACK BETTER THAN EVER NEXT SEASON. AS FOR THIS SEASON... QUARTERBACK TOMMY ARMSTRONG... EXPECTING TO BE THE STARTER FOR NEBRASKA'S SEASON OPENER... BUT áHEá WAS DINGED UP AT PRACTICE TODAY... AS WIDE RECEIVER BRANDON REILLY... AND LINEMAN ALEX CAUGHT UP WITH BIG RED ZONE INSIDER SEAN CALLAHAN OF HUSKER-ONLINE-DOT-COM TO TALK ABOUT WEEK ONE OF FALL CAMP.( Andy - "Alright Sean, week one in the books. I tell you what, could it have gone any worse in terms of injuries and attrition for this team?" Sean - "Yeah, Nebraska in this first week where only two of full pads, they lose a handful Charles Jackson, Leroy Alexander, and Michael Rose, and you could even go back to Avery Moss. That would be four defensive starters the big red have lost when you add Avery Moss into the mix. So definitely not a good first week when you look at it from that perspective. Then you add Tommy Armstrong getting dinged up a little bit here as well on Saturday." Andy - "Yeah, it looked like Tommy Armstrong got his bell rung a bit. Adam Taylor also going down with a perceived ankle. It's part of football. Its kind of a the line that you toe between physical play getting ready for the season and protecting yourself isn't it?" Sean - "Well it's a little different now to that we get to see these practices, like a lot of these injuries have happened obviously for years.now we all see it so I think it gets little differently when someone like Armstrong or an Adam Taylor goes down in practice. So you know I don't think any of those guys hopefully are out long term type of deals, but when you've you add those two type of guys here on Saturday, it's definitely made things interesting here for Bo Pelini in week one." Andy - "Alright let's talk about who on the field will replace some of those guys who are injured or suspended for the season on defense.Let's start with Charles Jackson and then talk about Leroy Alexander and of "Yeah, Charles Jackson a no brainer right now, it's Byerson Cockrell. The like ck what he brings, he's a JUKO that was here in the spring. He's longer, he's a real physical guy, so I think he's that nickel no doubt. When you go to that safety spot with Leroy being gone, I think Nate Gerry who took all the number one reps in the spring will roll into that spot. The Thor, even last night was, who are those backups going to be? I think Kierhe Williams is somebody to me that's going to keep emerging. The mike linebacker spot is Josh Banderas as we know, um you know Trevor Roach you know he knows the defens inside out, he'll be that backup guy. And the key with the mike role is you've got to know the reads and the checks in the line of scrimmage and that's what Michael Rose was so good at." Andy - "Well one week down two more weeks to go before game week as the Huskers prepare for their opener against Florida Atlantic on August 30th." ) ALRIGHT, THANKS GUYS. THE COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF IS ON --- NEBRASKA AND FLORIDA ATLANTIC... JUST THREE WEEKS FROM TODAY. THE HUSKERS OPENING THE SEASON AT MEMORIAL STADIUM... A 2-30 START ON B-T-N.

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